


Buttercup yellow

by Pebblesong7



Series: Bad things happen bingo [9]
Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Animal Attack, Animal Death, Bad Things Happen Bingo, Blood and Injury, Buttercup is a good dog, Dogs, Hoarding, Hurt TK Strand, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Injections, Mental Health Issues, Protective Carlos Reyes, Protective Judd Ryder, Protective Owen Strand, TK Strand Needs A Hug, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-27 19:35:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30127782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pebblesong7/pseuds/Pebblesong7
Summary: On a call, TK gets attacked by dogs.
Relationships: Buttercup & TK Strand, Carlos Reyes/TK Strand, TK Strand & Everyone
Series: Bad things happen bingo [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2184204
Comments: 6
Kudos: 143





	Buttercup yellow

**Author's Note:**

> In this fic TK get's attacked by dogs, there are some graphic descriptions of injury and the aftermath. The squad is there for him. The dogs do get put down (not Buttercup) which is pretty depressing but likely what would happen.

TK loves dogs. Like his father said, he had loved every single dog he had ever met. Every Christmas and birthday it was the only thing on his list, his mother rolled her eyes as he begged for a dog every single day. Rescue or puppy, he would love it. 

When Buttercup arrived, all TK would think about was his death. The first dog he ever got, and he would probably die, just like his dad might. It was the closest he had ever gotten to disliking a dog, but after their midnight balcony talk he loved Buttercup more than anything. 

Buttercup followed TK like a shadow, he could barely do anything on ground level without feeling a wet nose being pressed into his palm, and on one terrifying occasion when he was halfway up a ladder. Buttercup loved all food that you could possibly offer, they even had to find a way to dog proof the bin. All the while he would stare at you with that goofy smile and big dark eyes. 

Whenever TK couldn’t sleep, he would talk to Buttercup about whatever was troubling him. The dog was better than any therapist, and probably knew more about his personal life than Carlos did. Carlos might be a cat person but after he met Buttercup he determined that “some dogs” were ok. 

Then again Carlos was the type of man who could stand in a field of cows and not be intimidated, typical Texas boy. He could keep his cows, TK would stick to dogs thank you very much. 

After they got Buttercup, the firehouse family took extra care to make sure that all animals were accounted for where possible on jobs. Judd, the big guy who liked to claim he was hard as nails, took 10 minutes on their last call cuddling the collie that had gotten separated from her owners. 

Needless to say, Buttercup was as much of a team member as anyone at the station. 

\--- --- --- --- ---

It was just minutes before the end of their shift that the team was called out to a partial building collapse. The house was old, and had been in bad shape for a while, but the owner had refused to leave. She was a hoarder, suffering terribly as her home was filled to the brim with tattered and, quite frankly dangerous, items. It was only a matter of time before disaster struck, and unfortunately they had been unable to convince her to accept help. 

TK was still quite new to being a paramedic, it was hard to refrain from going headfirst into danger with the rest of the team. He knew that it was more important for him to assess the scene and be prepared to go where he was needed however, so he forced himself to stay by the ambulance. 

The roof had been hit by a falling branch, leading to it and a few thin walls caving inward. TK was relieved that the ambulance was so meticulously organised, grabbing one of the kits in preparation as he was Judd racing over to them. 

“We found the owner, we can't get the full extent of the injuries but it looks like she might have been hit by some rubble. When the roof went it pushed down a lot of her stuff, we can't get through.” TK nodded.   
“Alright, let me come have a look. I can assess her injuries whilst you work on the roof.”

TK followed the firefighter into the building. The main hallway was mercifully intact, but newspapers reached the ceiling. It was a miracle that there hadn't been an accident before now. TK wondered how the rest of the team had even been able to get through with their clothing, let alone any other gear. 

When they got to what TK thought must be a living room, he could see the dilemma. There was a small gap at the base of the desamated door, only held up by more piles of items. TK crouched onto his stomach to look through, and finally his eyes lay on the woman. 

She was pinned underneath a lot of trash. TK thought he might be able to see some blood but he couldn’t get a great look at it from here. He was more alarmed by the fact that she was soundless, barely even breathing but the look of it. 

TK pulled his medkit closer to him.   
“Judd, she looks pretty badly hurt. I think I can squeeze through the gap and get to her.” Judd shook his head.   
“Nah, it’s too dangerous.” TK assessed the scene. 

“There’s no dust, I think it’s been down for a while. I can get into there without touching anything.” He looked pleadingly at Judd. “Please, it might be too late if we leave it any longer.”

The older man scratched his head.   
“Fine, go for it. But make sure you don’t hit anything. If it starts looking dangerous you get out right away.” TK gave a slight glare, he had been a firefighter for a pretty long time, he knew how to handle a building collapse. But he wasn’t going to say anything and risk being benched. 

Cautiously, TK reached forward with his arms and pulled his body through the narrow gap. He could faintly hear his father giving orders to the rest of the team outside as they started moving rubble out of the way. 

Finally, TK was able to drag his legs through, and was pleasantly surprised to see that the room itself was actually larger than he thought. He picked his way over rubbish on his hands and knees until he reached the vic. 

She was still breathing, but from here he could see she had a bad gash on her head. A majority of the damage was from the stuff that had been knocked over in the fall, and he brushed away what he could as he assessed the injuries. 

There was limited crush damage, but one of her legs was pretty badly broken. The main injury was the head, and TK felt a spark of concern as her pupils remained unresponsive to his light. He said her name a few times, hoping for any kind of response but there was nothing. 

Just as the young man turned to tell Judd what was happening, a heavy scrabbling drew his attention. A closed door was being pushed from the other side, and TK could hear faint whimpering on the other side. 

“Judd, she’s pretty bad off, we need to get her to the hospital asap. I think there might be someone behind the door.”  
“Can you get to it? Do you think it's a person? She has a granddaughter, could it be her?” TK listened intently. The door was too thick for him to be able to tell exactly what was making the noise.   
“I don’t know. The door isn’t by the looks of it, if a person is trapped I might be able to help.”

With that he rose to his knees again and made his way to the door. Thankfully there was enough space for him to stand, but it was smaller than a regular door, perhaps to some kind of cupboard? He pulled at the handle, and it opened. 

There was quiet for a moment before two dogs barged through, nearly knocking TK down in the process. They looked to be rottweilers, but in the faint light TK couldn’t tell entirely. He could tell, however, that they were angry. 

One of them launched at his face and it was only thanks to TK’s cat-like reflexes that he got his arm up in time, sharp teeth slicing through the skin like a knife through butter. TK cried out in fear and pain as the other dog charged. 

He pushed himself to his feet, adrenaline helping him push through the pain of the fangs being ripped out of his skin. He knew that he had to stay standing, these dogs were trying to kill him. ‘Protect your throat if you can, you go down, you’re as good as dead.” Maybe Carlos’ distaste for dogs had its benefits. 

A strong jaw snapped around his leg, followed by another further up toward his thigh. TK screamed at the fiery agony, and all coherent thought left his mind. He kicked as hard as he could, trying to get them to lose their grip but they held tight. Judd was yelling something but TK could barely hear him. 

The mouth on his lower leg was gone, quickly finding its mark on his arm again, tugging him downward. He was just a chew toy to these animals. He hit out with his other hand, but that only seemed to make them angrier, and another yank took him to the floor. 

Fangs made contact with his neck, and TK shrieked this time, pain and terror throbbing through every fibre of his being. As more teeth hit his abdomen he realised that he was probably going to die in here. 

With strength he didn’t know he had, TK forced his arm into the dogs nose, and to his relief it took the bait. As soon as it did, he curled up into the fetal position, kneeing the other dog away from his stomach and covering the back of his neck with his hands. 

Snarls and growls echoed around the small space and painful nips and bites made him flinch, but his face and torso were mostly protected. 

After what felt like an eternity, he realised that the bites had stopped, and he dared to move slightly. The dogs were over by the woman, sniffing at her. TK was stiller than he had ever been, barely even able to breathe. Tears pricked at his eyes, he had never felt so helpless. 

Pushing those thoughts away, he prepared himself to make a dash for the cupboard. With a deep breath, he leapt to his feet and slammed the door behind him, heart racing as the dogs snapped at the door and howled with fury. 

Finally safe, he collapsed to the floor. There was barely any room here, and it was pitch black, TK started to think that if they lived like this it was no wonder the dogs were so violent. Liquid was dripping down his arms, legs, neck, and torso, and he wasn’t naive enough to think it was sweat. He couldn’t see at all, but he was able to find his radio and called in. 

“Cap! It’s TK, I'm in a cupboard and there's dogs and the owner in the room next to me. The dogs are violent and will attack.” He had never been so relieved to hear his fathers voice.   
“TK! What’s your status?” He could hear the thick emotion in Owen’s voice.   
“I got bit a few times, on the arms, legs, torso, and neck. I think I’m bleeding but it’s dark and I can't see.”

The radio was silent for a moment.   
“Ok, we’re on our way. Stay where you are.” TK giggled almost hysterically. Where was he gonna go?

Whilst he waited, he used his hands to try and assess the injuries. He could feel deep puncture marks all over his body, and his hands were dripping with blood afterwards. He could hear the splatter of the fluid as it hit the ground. 

Feeling around, there didn’t seem to be anything he could use as bandages, so TK settled for using his shirt. He was in a lot of pain, but he was feeling physically ok for the most part. He hadn't felt any gushing or teeth still stuck in the wounds, so he hoped he had been able to avoid anything worse than superficial injuries. 

The smell of blood was starting to overpower the odor of dogs, and TK finally let out a sob. He could feel that he was shaking now, and he felt a little lightheaded from all the adrenaline, or possibly blood loss. 

The dogs were still scrabbling at the door, he could hear them breathing as they sniffed at the base of the door. Despite being safe, TK still felt his heart skip a beat everytime he thought he might be about to feel teeth again. 

Then, it was silent again. TK didn’t make a sound.

“TK? You in here.” TK almost dropped to the floor as he heard Owen’s voice.   
“I’m here!” He called back. Fumbling, he felt for the doorknob and slowly pushed it open. The dogs were gone, but TK fixed his stare on every corner before he finally landed on his father. 

He stumbled upright and dragged his captain into a hug, his trembling abating slightly as welcoming arms closed around him. He did his best to control his breathing. 

When he could bring himself to let go, TK was pushed to the opening in the wall and gladly accepted Paul’s arm. The adrenaline was dying away rapidly, and TK realised he was struggling to keep himself upright. A distant bark made him flinch away. 

Finally they reached the ambulance and TK all but collapsed against it. In the sunlight, he could get a better look at the injuries. The bite marks were deep and painful, the worst of them located on his arms and legs. The skin was torn in places where he had pulled away, leaving thick trails of blood all over his skin and clothes. The one on his side was fortunately shallow, it would likely leave a scar but TK knew it could have been much worse. He caught a glimpse of himself, pale and feverish in the reflective surface of the door.

The neck wound was scary to look at. TK realised again quite how fortunate he had been to not hit his jugular, the sobering reality of the situation caught him off guard. 

Bandages were being tied around the worst of the injuries, and Judd stayed next to him the entire time. Owen was busy dealing with the police, TK assumed they had dealt with the dogs, and ordered Judd to keep TK in the ambulance or die trying. It was over the top, TK didn’t think he could walk anywhere, but he was glad for the texan’s soothing presence. 

He didn’t recognise the paramedics, he suspected that his team had been sent off with the lady. They were quick and professional, being gentle as they did what they needed to. TK tried to be as agreeable as he could, although he was so out of it he barely knew what he was saying. 

Judd didn’t force him to lie down, instead letting the younger man lean against him. The firefighter could act as rough as he liked but when it came to his brothers and sisters he was a huge softie. TK knew that he would need to get some shots, he didn’t want to think about how those dogs had been living and what they might give him. 

He was offered a glass of water but TK couldn’t make himself swallow, despite his thirst. He wondered whether he might be going into shock, not to a dangerous extent as far as he could tell, but enough to numb the wounds slightly. 

The rise was mercifully short, and as soon as they arrived Carlos rushed to meet him and Judd at the door. TK wasn’t aware that his boyfriend had been called but he had never been happier to see his handsome lover. He looked even more perfect than usual. 

“I thought I was gonna die.” TK’s voice was scratchy and had a slight tremor still, but Carlos didn’t even blink. His expression was one of horror and fear, TK knew him well enough to see that, but the hand on his shoulder was steady and he sounded as in control as ever.   
“I know, you are going to be just fine TK. Judd and I are going to be here with you the entire time, the doctors are going to fix you up and you’ll be out of here in no time.”

They were led, or in TK’s case wheeled, into one of the ER rooms, and TK was helped onto the bed. Immediately the nurses were buzzing around him, measuring and checking wounds, apologising every time TK let out a hiss of pain. Carlos held his hand, and Judd told stories about various rescues and experiences he had. 

Eventually a resident pulled back the curtain, introducing herself as Doctor Brown. She was a little anxious, TK wondered whether he might be one of her first patients alone. He gave her a gentle smile, and tried his best to not flinch as she stitched up the worst of the injuries. While doing so, she explained his prognosis. 

“They’re quite deep, and we will be giving you some shots, just in case. You’ll be started on a course of antibiotics, and you’ll need to take a little time off work, but you should make a full recovery.” TK was relieved, and let Judd ask all the intense questions that Grace had probably told him to check. 

Now that some time had passed and everything was confirmed to be ok, TK felt exhaustion pulling at his bones. His eyes drooped slightly, relieved that the worst of the injections and stitching was over. They wanted to keep him overnight, just to keep an eye out for infection, but they were sure he would be released the next day. 

By now, the whole team was at the hospital, apparently they had taken over the waiting room. TK couldn’t help but laugh at the mental image. 

When he was moved into the overnight ward, everyone was finally allowed through. He could barely stay awake, opting to smile at the rest of his teammates between assurances that he was absolutely fine, no he didn’t lose a limb, and yes he had been given shots. Owen seemed to catch on to his exhaustion, and easily hurried everyone out of the room. TK made sure to give everyone, especially Judd all the gratitude he had before they left. 

Finally it was just TK, his dad, and Carlos. He knew they would need to leave pretty soon, visiting hours were coming to a close, but Carlos assured him that he would be staying right here. One nurse tried to argue but gave up after barely a full minute. 

“How are you feeling TK?” Owen was sounding more like his confident old self again.   
“I’m alright dad, got some good painkillers,” when he saw Owen and Carlos move to speak he quickly added “non-opiates.” Carlos brushed his hair back with his fingers, a tender gesture usually reserved for home. 

The bandages across what felt like his entire body were slightly itchy, and he went to scratch one before Owen pulled his wrist away gently. 

“Why don’t you go to sleep TK, we’ll be right here when you wake up. You must be exhausted.” TK squeezed Carlos’ hand, murmuring a quick goodnight before he closed his eyes.

No doubt he had a few lectures in his future about workplace safety, and he doubted he would be allowed out of Owen’s sight for the next few years. TK decided to not focus on that too much. He was alive, that was all that mattered right now. It was a pleasant surprise to realise that the nagging doubt that used to follow him all day, that dreadful whisper that he should take the easy way you, was quiet. 

Smiling, he drifted off. 

\--- --- --- --- ---

It was two weeks later that TK finally got to go back to the station. Carlos and Owen had taken on a double team attack to make sure he stayed on bedrest for as long as the doctors ordered, and he hadn't been allowed to pick up anything heavier than a TV remote for the entire first week. 

Certainly it had been irritating, but TK appreciated the sentiment. Nonetheless, he was glad to finally be back at work. He still had a few bandages over the worst cuts, where the skin was still healing, but he was relieved to see that everything was fading away. He would have some scars but, as Carlos said, they made him look sexy and mysterious. 

The team were there with balloons and party poppers at the ready, embracing TK with all the love in the world. He laughed as he told them off, he wasn’t worth all this, and they had all come to see him whilst he was recovering. He wasn’t even on full duty yet!

The one part of it that he didn’t consider was Buttercup. He barely saw more than a shadow in his vision before there was a tongue on his hand and a frantically wagging tail whipping against his leg. 

For a heartbeat TK froze, heart plummeting as his nostrils filled with the smell of dust and blood. He pulled his hand back automatically, jumping back from the dog, heart thumping so loud he was sure his family could hear it. Tears pricked at his eyes and he whimpered slightly.

Then there was a person in front of him.  
“TK, you’re ok. You are at the firehouse in Texas, you are safe and you are not being attacked. Breathe TK.” His vision slowly focused until he realised that it was Judd in front of him.   
“Sorry, I-I-I…” Judd shook his head.  
“Don't be sorry man, i’m sorry this is on us, we should have thought.” This time TK was the one to say no.   
“It’s fine, It’s Buttercup, I knew he was gonna be here, it just slipped my mind.”

Judd waved off everyone else and led TK away to a quieter spot as he took a moment to calm down. 

“Thank you Judd.”  
“For what?”  
“For being here. Through all of this.”  
“It’s my fault anyway, I should have never let you go into that building.”  
“Don't think like that, I would have gone in anyway and we both know it.”

It was true. Unfortunately it had all been for nothing at the end of the day, the owner had unfortunately had a stroke at some point during being trapped and passed soon after she got to the hospital. The dogs had been removed from police custody and were put down. 

Oddly, TK found that he hated what had been done to the dogs. They had been scared and alone, all they knew was that a strange man had broken in and could have killed their master. They had been locked in that cupboard for days, starving and desperate. Had they been brought by an owner who had been able to care for them, they would have been brilliant. 

A lot of this could have been avoided if that woman had been able to accept help. TK knew better than anyone how hard that was, he had been struggling with addiction for years before he finally got help, and even now he struggled. Mental illness was like that, he supposed. 

\--- --- --- --- ---

Over the next few days, the entire team worked together to help TK. he was never alone for even a second, always told where Buttercup was at any time and told about what had happened on any calls he missed. 

It was Paul who came up to him one day and proposed a solution. 

“When I was first transitioning, there was this one bar where I got beat up by someone who hated me for what I was.” TK’s chest clenched.  
“I’m so sorry.”  
“It’s alright, it was a long long time ago now. My point is that for a long time, I couldn’t go into any bar because I was scared of what might happen. I couldn’t even bear the smell of them, I started to go out of my way to avoid them. Correct me if i'm wrong but I think you might be doing the same thing with dogs.”

TK thought for a moment.   
“Yeah, I have been. I know that Buttercup would never even dream of hurting me, but sometimes all I can see is those dogs trying to tear me apart.”  
“I know,” Paul sympathised, “I can't even imagine how scary that must have been. I can only tell you that, for me at least, it took a while but I kept going to bars, not right away, just bit by bit, and eventually that fear went away. In a way that was much easier, I could have just decided to never go to a bar, but in our line of work there is going to be dogs. I think, and it's only if you want to and feel up to it, we might be able to do the same thing with Buttercup.”

He was right, and TK knew it. More importantly, TK didn’t want to be scared of dogs, he loved them. He especially loved Buttercup.   
“Alright, let's give it a go. But you better not throw me in the deep end with that, I will probably cry and that’ll be embarrassing.” He jokes lightly.

Over the next few days, TK got closer and closer to Buttercup, eventually he touched him again. The dog had seemed to sense that he was scared, and had been very patient all things considered. He was as gentle as ever, and nuzzled his palm.

After a little while, TK was proud to realise that he no longer looked over his shoulder at every flicker, he didn’t mind when he woke up to Buttercup acting as a blanket, and he wasn’t scared to say hi to dogs on the street anymore. The whole team was so supportive, especially Judd. TK didn’t miss his brother's proud look when he saw TK was playing tug-of-war with Buttercup. 

He knew it would be a while before TK would be completely fine with dogs again, but everyday he was doing better, thanks to his family’s help. 

Buttercup was certainly a member of that family.


End file.
